“We’re only 4 degrees less than what Phoenix, Arizona, is this week,” Pam Nasman told 170 students entering fifth grade through high school — and 14 more adult students — gathered in the auditorium on Monday morning. Affectionately called “Morning Wake-Up,” students and staff meet there every day of the three-week music school that follows the end of every school year. Appropriately, they start together in song.

But Warren County Summer Music School is so much more than that, and the misleading name has kept it one of the county’s best-kept secrets.

While all students are required to take Music Literacy as one of their five courses in a day, Visual Arts classes may be the summer school’s most popular. From Beginning Guitar to Intermediate Celtic Harp to Advanced Ukulele, and any musical instrument you can think of, there is A Cappella Choir, Handbells, Jazz, Rock Band, Theatre classes (including “Shakespeare is Cool”), Combo and Tap Dance, and Visual Arts classes like Architectural Design, Face & Figure Drawing, Handcrafted Instruments, Photography, and Sculpture.

Oh, there’s other cool classes offered among the 70 listed at wcsms.org.

Mrs. Harvey’s students in the show choir are pictured rehearsing.

Those offerings have evolved in 36 years since Warren County Summer Music School “was established in 1989 by the late Ann T. Mead, Kay H. Logan and Miriam S. Levinson, through a bequest from the Harry A. Logan, Jr. Foundation to initiate a broad based summer arts program,” according to the website. “Continued funding from Kay H. Logan supports the school in its mission to encourage and develop the study, performance and appreciation of the fine and performing arts.”

That “appreciation” can be seen on students’ faces both young and old-er. No offense to Pat Evans, who takes five classes and was deemed by Nasman one of the school’s most enthusiastic (adult) supporters.

“Since retiring more than a decade ago, I have wanted to enroll in Warren County Summer Music School,” said Evans. “This year, I finally signed up for the program. There are 14 seniors enrolled this year. I intend to be a student again next year and have a personal goal of encouraging at least six more senior participants. Twenty more, as a stretch goal, sounds even better!

“Before this year, the only thing I really knew about SMS was that when the traditional students joined with the Warren Philharmonic for Pops at the Fountain the evening before the last day of the program, the concert was pretty incredible,” she said. “The instrumentals and singing and dancing performed by SMS students made me want to enroll as a senior student and take in some of the magic.

“There are course requirements for traditional students,” according to Evans. “Senior participants can choose any subject and enroll in as many as five classes, or only one. I determined to take five classes to have the full experience. After so many years of not having a regular schedule, it has felt surprisingly good to have the discipline of a schedule, at least for a brief time. My choice of classes was varied with music literacy, storytelling, recorder, mallet percussion, and fiber arts. With dozens of choices, I was grateful to have the assistance of the scheduler.

Tydus Chase is pictured playing the violin during a Summer Music School lesson..

“One of the most intriguing aspects is the Morning Wake-Up, a short daily assembly in the Beaty auditorium before classes begin,” added Evans. “Each session includes announcements, a this-day-in-history discussion, group singing in the round and, on many days, there are musical performances from staff and/or students. In addition to witnessing the enthusiasm of the students, the sincere involvement of the staff is evident. The concept and practice of respect is emphasized and it is effective. Students hold doors open for others, speak kindly, and work cooperatively.

“From 2012 until last year, I served as manager of the Warren Concert Association,” she said. “After 75 years of providing exceptional professional musical entertainment to our community, the association board determined that we could no longer operate effectively and affordably. The funds in the association treasury were donated to three local musical non-profit organizations and one of them was Summer Music School. What a worthwhile investment. The staff and board members, past and present, who make things happen, manage a program that may have no peers anywhere. With a 36-year history of success and enthusiastic students, interns, and staff, I believe SMS is unique and provides an incredible opportunity for anyone to experiment, learn, and succeed. For seniors, the opportunity to engage an aging brain with art-related subjects, exercise, literature, dance, sculpture, jewelry making, and more, is pretty much priceless. And, making friends with some much younger people is an added bonus.”

This summer and this week will be no different as the program ends on Friday; the day on Thursday night, SMS students will join the Warren Philharmonic for a performance in Warren. The Pops at the Fountain concert on Second Avenue — Warren Philharmonic and Warren County Summer Music School — begins at 7 p.m. tonight. If rain, the performance is moved to Warren Area High School.

“WCSMS attracts students wishing to begin to learn an instrument as well as teens wishing to learn a second, third, or fourth instrument,” said Denise Pearson, who has been with Summer Music School for over 30 years — first as a woodwinds teacher, then on the Board, and for the past eight years, director.

“Some of our alumni now work professionally in the arts but for most, it’s an opportunity to enjoy the community aspect of working together to create something special,” said Pearson. “We began 36 years ago as an enhancement of the summer band program and have evolved to include all kinds of music, plus theatre, dance, and visual arts. My colleagues and I are privileged to carry forward the work begun by Ann Mead, Mimi Levinson, and Dan Harpster. Percussion instructor Aaron Reinard and staff member Michelle Belleau were students that very first year and remain committed to the program. A former student and intern flew up from South Carolina to teach strings the first week and yet we also welcomed four new faculty members this year. We are all there because it’s a joyful, vibrant, and respectful place where achievement is celebrated and all are encouraged.

“That might be too official… sounding,” she said. “No one would choose to teach or learn in a second-floor classroom in this heat if they didn’t truly love what they were doing.”

Dora Turner is Board president, but she was once an enthusiastic student.

“As a student going into fifth grade, I remember feeling so excited about the opportunity to learn how to play different instruments at Summer Music School prior to selecting my instrument in middle school band,” said Turner. “I continued to attend Summer Music School year after year as a student because I loved the focused attention on my flute, recorder, piano, music theory, and dance courses. Ann Mead led the program with grace and enthusiasm, and I loved taking private flute lessons from her throughout my high school band years. As a student at SMS, I loved experiencing the joy that the teachers had while sharing the arts with students. Every class was so much fun, and it never felt like learning.

“I remember asking Mrs. Mead why I couldn’t come back again and again as a student,” said Turner, “and she recommended I apply to be an intern. I happily interned at Summer Music School until I was in college. As an adult, when Denise Pearson asked me to be a board member of Summer Music School, that same level of excitement to be involved with this program overcame me. I have loved being a member of the board with board members that were present in the lobby when I was a student at SMS, and educators of mine who have always encouraged me in my pursuit of the arts.

“As a board member and now board president, I am fortunate to be able to work with teachers, community members, and board members to ensure that this wonderful program flourishes year after year,” added Turner. “Everyone is genuinely excited to be at our monthly meetings, and many board members make an appearance at Summer Music School while our program is running. I hope that Summer Music School never stops bringing joy to children — Our Director (Denise Pearson), Administrator (Pam Nasman), Registrar/Treasurer (Michelle Belleau-Peterson), board members, teachers, and interns work tirelessly to make every moment of our three-week program engaging, fulfilling, and enriching,” she said. “As a student, having experienced the delight of taking classes that I am interested in from teachers who are so devoted to their craft, and now, as an adult, understanding the enthusiasm that leaders of the program put into its preparation and execution, I hope that Summer Music School never stops being a source of learning, positivity, encouragement, opportunity and growth for young students, the way that it was for me.”

What is a “special place in many people’s hearts,” according to Turner, will be on display, if only for a time, tonight at the fountain.